The Rogues Gallery

The Shadow of the Hole

Scientists may soon have a direct image of the black hole in the center of our galaxy.
Using a virtual telescope as big as the earth, they may have for the first time a
picture of the actual shadow a black hole.

Scientists met recently to discuss this project. It has probably one of the coolest
names for a telescope project: The Event Horizon Telescope.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Physics/Mechanics, Science Education | No Comments » |

“Apollo 16 Found Alien Shipwreck” – Psychics

This just in:  it turns out that the Apollo 16 mission was our first encounter with alien life/technology. 

According to a “psychic R&D operation” based in Austin, TX called Tranception Inc., the Apollo 16 astronauts deserve the Congressional Space Medal of Honor for the first ever alien encounter with some ”shipwreck elements”. 

Here, you can read the letter (PDF) sent by Tranception Inc. to everyone from NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. to Microsoft and Google.

If you are wondering what makes me think that the debris field surveyed, filmed and photographed by the crew of Apollo 16 during its EVA-3 is a “shipwreck”, please refer to EXHIBIT “E”, in that a total of eight Controlled Remote Viewers (six professionals and twotrainees) worked that target using standard CRV single-blind protocols and they all describeelements of a “shipwreck” or at least contact with “structures” and/or “people”, “biological”, “alien”, technology, their plight, etc.

Well there you have it folks.  There’s no arguing with that awesome bit of logic.  This is definitely proof of our encounter with aliens.

The Apollo 16 mission doesn’t need the whole alien shipwreck angle to make it great, it was pretty damn awesome to begin with.  Apollo 16 launched on April 16, 1972 and was manned by astronauts John Young, Charles Duke and Ken Mattingly.  Their primary mission was to collect samples from the lunar highlands then believed to have been the result of volcanic activity.  The samples proved that hypothesis incorrect.  The mission included over 20 hours of moonwalks and returned 211lbs of lunar samples.  They safely landed in the South Pacific on April 27, 1972.

Posted in Astronomy/Space Science, Conspiracy Theories, UFOs/Aliens | No Comments » | Tags: aliens, apollo 16, moon landing, nasa, remote viewing

Asshole Wife Abuser Blames Ghost

Sorry to be so coarse in the title, but this person makes me furious.

As reported by The Smoking Gun today, Michael West of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin was arrested by police on January 15th. This douchebag told police that a a ghost was responsible for strangling and battering his wife.

First, thank goodness the police did not fall this bullshit, though there was probably a near-zero possibility of that happening. Alas, we can’t take anything for granted these days.

Second, I’m willing to acknowledge that perhaps, just perhaps, West is mentally ill.  If that turns out to be the case, then this is a sad and unfortunate instance on many levels. But if you read the report, about how West changed his story once the cops discovered hand marks on his wife’s neck, I’m inclined to believe that this person is “sane” and was well aware of his behavior.

Third, men hitting women is repugnant. Its one thing for a man to have to defend himself from an attack by a woman, and as a student of Krav Maga for 4 years I know about the capabilities of a woman on the offensive. But a man attacking a woman is cowardly and despicable and inexcusable.

Fourth, if this POS pleads not guilty and stands by his ghost story, what are the chances he’d wind up arguing his case in front of a judge whom has a disposition to believing in ghosts? The chances are against that happening, but is it out of the realm of possibility?  Well …

Just remember that when we underestimate the influence of the paranormal, which is so saturated within our culture, don’t be surprised when it rears its ugly head in places you might least expect.

Posted in Ghosts/Demons | 1 Comment » | Tags: abuse, crime, ghost

Weekly Geekery #3

Ok so it hasn’t been weekly.  More like annual geekery.  I’m hoping this time it will stick.

SOPA/PIPA vs Scientific Debate

Want another reason to hate SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act)?  Check out Los-Alamos National Laboratories post-doc researcher Michael Ham’s article  about how they can be used to kill scientific debate.  It’s over at Steve’s fave website the HuffPo.

Now, how does this apply to science? Let’s say you are greatly displeased that a science journal posted a result that disagrees with you in some way. Maybe it’s business, ideology, religious, or a personal vendetta. 

Read the entire article to get the rest of that quoted text.  It’s a really interesting read.

Tony Stark’s Bedroom

Jay turned me onto this video of Samsung’s Transparent Smart Window.  It looks pretty cool and reminds me of Tony Stark’s bedroom window in the movie Iron Man.  Also, Minority Report.

Something I don’t get though.  How do the blinds protect your privacy if the screen is only one way?

Pointless Geeky Quickies

• I finally decided to watch the Smallville series.  I’m on season 3.  So far it’s an interesting take on pre-Superman Clark Kent.  I’m not liking the whole “Kryptonite can mutate humans” thing.
• Been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic since I got it Tuesday.  I’ve got a Jedi Consular going and I’m thinking of starting up a Bounty Hunter or a Smuggler.  Or both.  It’s a great game.
• If you like the music of The Legend of Zelda, check out this violin tribute by Lindsey Stirling.  It’s beautiful.
• Check out Cracked.com’s 36 Worst Action Figures of All Time.  Yep, the statue from Rocky was an “action” figure.

Posted in Geek Culture, Technology | 4 Comments » |

Failing at Prediction, Succeeding at Bias

In Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, the future can be predicted through a new method known as psychohistory. It’s a concept that turns up quite a lot — not only in science-fiction but from every so-called analyst, expert, advisor, talking head, and pundit across the spectrum of armchair philosophers and industry insiders.

We’re not talking about psychics here, but good old fashioned datahounds. Surely this suggests a more effective compass to predicting trends, right? Isn’t there a science to extrapolation that is more effective than reading the pattern of coffee grinds at the bottom of your Turkish coffee? Economics and technology and politics are not like trying to divine how many angels can stand on pinheads, after all.

Michael Shermer has a fine and sobering article today in the Huffington Post on how economists and Nostradamus aren’t so different with their respective track records:

At Skeptic magazine we routinely publish articles about the failed predictions of soothsayers, astrologers, tarot-card readers, palm-readers, and psychics of all stripes. But frankly scientists are not much better, especially in the social sciences where we depend on predictions of psychologists, sociologists, and most notably economists.

Shermer highlights the stealthy, insidious logical fallacy that is confirmation bias, as the gremlin in our would-be psychohistorical acumen:

One of the smartest and most deeply read historians of the 20th century, Arnold Toynbee, was spectacularly wrong in his blockbuster A Study of History, in which he thought he had identified a challenge-and-response cyclical pattern that all civilizations follow: birth, growth, expansion, empire, and disintegration. Starting with Greece and Rome, Toynbee dug through the historical record to find confirmatory evidence for his theory (culminating in his call for America to rise to the challenge of its alleged mid-century moral decline). You would think he would have taken heed from his inspiration, the German historian Oswald Spengler, who erroneously predicted the “decline of the west” in the 1920s. But that’s not how the mind works.

Why did Toynbee believe his own theory in the teeth of contradictory evidence presented by other historians? Because of the confirmation bias, which our brains employ to reinforce what we already believe while ignoring disconfirming data.

It isn’t merely the flashy discredited utopias that earlier ages expected — like flying cars or airships or lunar bases by 1999. The world is an astonishingly complex place, while our brains are constantly trying to simplify it into a distinct and candy-coated set of variables that will result in a conclusion ready-to-fit on a poster or soundbyte.

Writes Shermer:

Being deeply knowledgeable on one subject narrows one’s focus and increases confidence, but it also blurs dissenting views until they are no longer visible, thereby transforming data collection into bias confirmation and morphing self-deception into self-assurance. 

Not bad advice for the new year.

Posted in General Science, Logic/Philosophy, Neuroscience/Psychology, Science and the Media, Science Education, Skepticism | No Comments » |

Supernova Silliness

There’s been a lot of crazy predictions about 2012 and all the disasters that are going to befall our poor little planet. There’s one prediction that somehow escaped my notice until recently…that the earth will be destroyed by a supernova!

The people who promulgate this silliness try to make reasonable arguments how this conspiracy could possilby stay a secret.
The usual reason is the same reason why evidence of UFOS is kept a secret by the governments of the world. There would obviously be a worldwide panic, cats and dogs living together…….total chaos.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Myths and Misconceptions, Science Education, UFOs/Aliens | No Comments » |

Hitchslapped

We lost a great man recently in Christopher Hitchens.  I know I’m a little late with posting about this but I just listened to SGU Episode 336 where the Rogues, George Hrab and Jamy Ian Swiss share their thoughts and memories of Christopher Hitchens.

The first time I heard of Hitchens was when I was running the SGU’s fansite and they interviewed him at TAM5.  I didn’t think too much of it, he was just another interviewee to add to my online list at the time.  It’s not until I downloaded SGU Uncut #2 and listened to the unedited interview that Hitchens caught my attention.  It was awesome.  Since then I think I’ve seen all of the debates he participated in that are available on YouTube.  The man was a genius.  I think the thing that impressed me the most about Hitchens was how well he used his words.  This man was a master at the English language.  He was a sniper with words.  Everything he said I knew that that’s EXACTLY what he meant to say and how he meant to say it.

So yesterday I decided to look up any other Hitchens videos I might have missed and I came across this awesome playlist of (at the time of this posting) 71 videos of Hitchens giving the Hitchslap to various people, religions and ideas.  I just needed to share it with our readers.

Just before I started this post I bought God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and Missionary Position. I can’t wait to start reading them.

Posted in Science and the Media, Skepticism | No Comments » |

An Oldie But a Goodie!

One of my televisions crapped out the other day. My diagnosis is that the power supply gave out, because it no longer powers up.  (Damn, I’m clever!)

Being the relatively “disposable” items that these products have become (that is to say, they are very affordable and sometimes more cost effective to simply replace than the hassle and real costs involved of having them repaired) I decided a new unit was in order. Off to BestBuy!

Knowing exactly what I was shopping for (I used to be in the television production industry on the equipment end of things), I went in, spotted the exact set I wanted, and went to the register to complete the purchase.

The sales rep checked her computer, and informed me that an “open box” of another relatively similar make and model was available. We went over to the open box unit, and yes, the box was indeed open. She said “this TV has never been used, just the seal on the box was broken.”  This unit was about 15% less expensive than its sealed-box equivalent, so I told them to ring me up!

I got the TV home, opened the box, removed the set and immediately I knew I was in trouble. The unit was not new, it had been previously unwrapped. Parts of the manual were missing, the cleaning cloth was no where to be found, but worst, the screws for the base of the unit were absent. There was no way to put the TV on its stand. The cables actually stunk of cigar smoke – this set was TOTALLY used!

So I pack everything back up, load it back in the car, and back to the store I go. I head right for the customer service desk to explain all the problems. They apologized and say to me they will take the unit back, and they are happy to sell me a brand new sealed unit, but sorry, it has to be at the new unit price.

AH HA!

What we have here is a variation of the old Bait n’ Switch! The Bait n’ Switch is a tactic in which a seller advertises a product with the intention of persuading customers to purchase a more expensive product. When a seller uses this tactic, they frequently tell the customer that the original product is sold out or no longer available (even if the product is indeed still available), and push hard for the customer to purchase the costlier product. We have talked about this on the SGU before, when retailers online tried to pull this hucklebuck on Steve with camera equipment.

My situation was not exactly the same as the classic version of this scam, but rather a variation on the tactic. However, I was not sure this was an intentional deceit. Its quite possible this was an oversight and a quality control issue (there is no way that unit should have been returned to the sales floor.) Regardless of intent, I had to set the record straight, if nothing else, to receive the customer service that I and any other consumer deserves.

After explaining all of this to the three representatives at the customer service desk, I was able to convince them of what was actually going on. They all seemed enlightened by my take on the matter, as if they had genuinely not realized the potential (albeit probably unintentional) “scam” that had unfolded.  

They wheeled a brand new unit up to the desk and right out into the trunk of my car – honoring the “open box” price. Yet another example of practical, every-day application of skepticism, not only ultimately working in my favor, but there are now three more people in the world who understand the subtle tactic of the Bait n’ Switch.  

Perhaps one day they will find themselves being better consumers, having benefited by this little sprinkle of skepticism.

Posted in Con Artists and Scams | 3 Comments » | Tags: bait and switch, scam

Skeptical Blog Anthology

Our friends over at The Young Australian Skeptics have published their first book:  Skeptical Blog Anthology.  I’m not sure I can offer a better description of the book than the YAS has already provided: 

This book is a collection of reader-​​nominated blog posts, representing the best of a new wave of online skepticism. Collected over a year, it features a plethora of posts on topics ranging from the vaccination debate, paranormal claims, the ongoing creep of creationism into politics and education, conspiracy theories, homeopathy, outreach, all kinds of alternative medicine and even attempts to tackle the question “What is skepticism?”

They’ve done quite a fine job of assembling a smattering of blog posts from some of my favorite people involved the skeptical movement.

When they contacted me a while back to inform me they were considering using one of my blog posts in their book, I was pleasantly surprised. I am not a professional blogger. It is not my primary means of outreach. (“Damn it, Jim I’m a broadcaster, not a writer!”.) So I really felt it special to even be considered as part of a book, let alone making the final cut.

Having deemed my work book-worthy, the YAS elevated me to a level alongside established, talented, and entertaining  bloggers whom I greatly admire. This is an honor, and I very much appreciate the acknowledgement.

I am a strong believer that Holocaust Denial deserves to remain near the front of our skeptical minds. It can easily get lost among the other major battlefronts against alternative medicine, paranormal beliefs, and creationism indoctrination. The efforts to refute the claims of Holocaust Deniers does not get the daily attention the other major topics receive, so the more people are reminded, the more effective we remain. It is encouraging to see that my posts about Holocaust Denial have gone recognized and publicized. (This is my first time being professionally published.) 

I encourage all SGU listeners and Rogues Gallery readers to support the efforts of the YAS by purchasing a copy of Skeptical Blog Anthology. I ask you to, once again, relive and enjoy my slap to the face of Holocaust Deniers – but this time, enjoy it in YOUR choice of traditional book form , e-book, or PDF.

Posted in Announcements, Skepticism | No Comments » | Tags: blog, blogging, holocaust denial, recommended

The Blob on the Other Side of the Wall

MIT has recently come out with yet another cool piece of tech. A radar system that can see behind walls.
It’s not yet like making a wall completely transparent but it’s pretty cool and useful for a first-gen device and  the science behind it of course is pretty awesome.

When you look at something, even people through a wall, you can’t really get around the basics. You have to get light to bounce off them, get it back to the detectors, and then interpret what you’re looking at.

The team at MIT doesn’t use boring old visible light though, they use radar to see the people.

NOTE: THIS DEVICE IS NOT AS COOL AS THIS PICTURE LEADS YOU TO BELIEVE

Posted in General Science, Science Education, Technology | No Comments » |